CHAPTER XXI.
THE END OF THE STRUGGLE.
Being unable to obtain any supplies at Wilmington, Lord Cornwallisdetermined to march on into Virginia and to effect a junction withthe British force under General Arnold operating there. Arnoldadvanced to Petersburg and Cornwallis effected a junction with him onMay 20. The Marquis de la Fayette, who commanded the colonial forceshere, fell back. Just at this time the Count de Grasse, with a largeFrench fleet, arrived off the coast, and, after some consultationwith General Washington, determined that the French fleet and thewhole American army should operate together to crush the forces underLord Cornwallis.
The English were hoodwinked by reports that the French fleet wasintended to operate against New York, and it was not until theylearned that the Count de Grasse had arrived with twenty-eight shipsof the line at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay that the true objectof the expedition was seen. A portion of the English fleetencountered them, but after irregular actions, lasting over fivedays, the English drew off and retired to New York. Thecommander-in-chief then attempted to effect a diversion, in order todraw off some of the enemy who were surrounding Cornwallis. The fortof New London was stormed after some desperate fighting, and greatquantities of ammunition and stores and fifty pieces of cannon taken.General Washington did not allow his attention to be distracted.Matters were in a most critical condition, for although to theEnglish the prospect of ultimate success appeared slight indeed, theAmericans were in a desperate condition. Their immense andlong-continued efforts had been unattended with any material success.It was true that the British troops held no more ground now than theydid at the end of the first year of the war, but no efforts of thecolonists had succeeded in wresting that ground from them. The peoplewere exhausted and utterly disheartened. Business of all sorts was ata standstill. Money had ceased to circulate, and the credit ofCongress stood so low that its bonds had ceased to have any valuewhatever. The soldiers were unpaid, ill fed, and mutinous. If on theEnglish side it seemed that the task of conquering was beyond them,the Americans were ready to abandon the defense from sheerexhaustion. It was then of paramount necessity to General Washingtonthat a great and striking success should be obtained to animate thespirits of the people.
Cornwallis, seeing the formidable combination which the French andAmericans were making to crush him, sent message after message to NewYork to ask for aid from the commander-in-chief, and receivedassurances from him that he would at once sail with 4000 troops tojoin him. Accordingly, in obedience to his orders, Lord Cornwallisfortified himself at Yorktown.
On September 28 the combined army of French and Americans, consistingof 7000 of the former and 12,000 of the latter, appeared beforeYorktown and the post at Gloucester. Lord Cornwallis had 5960 men,but so great had been the effects of the deadly climate in the autumnmonths that only 4017 men were reported as fit for duty.
The enemy at once invested the town and opened their trenches againstit. From their fleet they had drawn an abundance of heavy artillery,and on October 9 their batteries opened a tremendous fire upon theworks. Each day they pushed their trenches closer, and the Britishforce was too weak, in comparison with the number of its assailants,to venture upon sorties. The fire from the works was completelyoverpowered by that of the enemy, and the ammunition was nearlyexhausted. Day after day passed and still the promised re-enforcementsdid not arrive. Lord Cornwallis was told positively that the fleetwould set sail on October 8, but it came not, nor did it leave portuntil the 19th, the day on which Lord Cornwallis surrendered.
On the 16th, finding that he must either surrender or break through,he determined to cross the river and fall on the French rear with hiswhole force and then turn northward and force his way throughMaryland, Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys. In the night the lightinfantry, the greater part of the guards, and part of theTwenty-third were embarked in boats and crossed to the Gloucesterside of the river before midnight. At this critical moment a violentstorm arose which prevented the boats returning. The enemy's firereopened at daybreak, and the engineer and principal officers of thearmy gave it as their opinion that it was impossible to resistlonger. Only one eight-inch shell and a hundred small ones remained.The defenses had in many places tumbled to ruins, and no effectualresistance could be opposed to an assault.
Accordingly Lord Cornwallis sent out a flag of truce and arrangedterms of surrender. On the 24th the fleet and re-enforcements arrivedoff the mouth of the Chesapeake. Had they left New York at the timepromised, the result of the campaign would have been different.
The army surrendered as prisoners of war until exchanged, theofficers with liberty to proceed on parole to Europe and not to serveuntil exchanged. The loyal Americans were embarked on the _Bonito_,sloop of war, and sent to New York in safety, Lord Cornwallis havingobtained permission to send off the ship without her being searched,with as many soldiers on board as he should think fit, so that theywere accounted for in any further exchange. He was thus enabled tosend off such of the inhabitants and loyalist troops as would havesuffered from the vengeance of the Americans.
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis' army virtually ended the war. Theburden entailed on the people in England by the great struggleagainst France, Spain, Holland, and America, united in arms againsther, was enormous. So long as there appeared any chance of recoveringthe colony the English people made the sacrifices required of them,but the conviction that it was impossible for them to wage a war withhalf of Europe and at the same time to conquer a continent had beengaining more and more in strength. Even the most sanguine weresilenced by the surrender of Yorktown, and a cry arose throughout thecountry that peace should at once be made.
As usual under the circumstances, a change of ministry took place.Negotiations for peace were at once commenced, and the war terminatedin the acknowledgment of the entire independence of the United Statesof America.
Harold with his companions had fallen back to Charleston with LordRawdon after the relief of Ninety-six, and remained there until thenews arrived that the negotiations were on foot and that peace wasnow certain. Then he took his discharge and sailed at once forEngland, accompanied by Jake; Peter Lambton taking a passage toCanada to carry out his intention of settling at Montreal.
Harold was now past twenty-two, and his father and mother did notrecognize him when, without warning, he arrived at their residence inDevonshire. It was six years since his mother had seen him, when shesailed from Boston before its surrender in 1776.
For a year he remained quiet at home, and then carried out his planof returning to the American continent and settling in Canada.
Accompanied by Jake, he sailed for the St. Lawrence and purchased asnug farm on its banks, near the spot where it flows from LakeOntario.
He greatly improved it, built a comfortable house upon it, and twoyears later returned to England, whence he brought back his CousinNelly as his wife.
Her little fortune was used in adding to the farm, and it became oneof the largest and best managed in the country. Peter Lambtonfound Montreal too crowded for him and settled down on the estate,supplying it with fish and game so long as his strength enabled himto go about, and enjoying the society of Jack Pearson, who hadmarried and established himself on a farm close by. As years wenton and the population increased the property became very valuable,and Harold, before he died, was one of the wealthiest and mostrespected men in the colony. So long as his mother lived he and hiswife paid occasional visits to England, but after her death hisfamily and farm had so increased that it was inconvenient to leavethem; his father therefore returned with him to Canada and ended hislife there. Jake lived to a good old age and was Harold's faithfulfriend and right-hand man to the last.
THE END.
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